Entrepreneur Spotlight

Regularly, we interview a successful SOURCE RW client to ask how SOURCE RW has impacted their business. This month, we feature Hannah Northup, Owner of NorthupHR and participant of fall '17 Kauffman Business Owners Education cohort.

NorthupHR offers strategic human resource services for the small to mid-size business. On-call and project-based HR services are designed to meet business needs with focus placed on providing excellent service in four primary areas: getting teams up to speed quickly, keeping employees happy, minimizing risk, and helping develop a team's in-house talent while growing the business responsibly.

What made you interested in business ownership?

I've worked as an HR executive for over a decade and was eager to partner with leadership and apply my skills to help them achieve their business objectives. Established HR firms have been growing as Indy's older start-ups mature, and I saw a clear need for services focused on small- to mid-size, growing companies.

How did you learn about SOURCE RW?

I had heard about SOURCE RW and indirectly knew the teacher, Denise Herd. She heard about my business concept and thought this class would be a great fit, and she was right!

What business topics have you addressed thus far?

With just a few weeks into the series, I have already learned the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, how to identify and meet market needs and how best to plan for my services.

What “one” thing stands out that you have learned at SOURCE RW, thus far?

Research is so important to every part of your business whether it is a product or service and making sure you understand that there are resources out there to help you. It was inspiring to learn from my classmates research. I fully believe in the value of quality research and how vital it is to my long term, professional success.

What have you enjoyed most about being a business owner?

I've really enjoyed building relationships with a number of small business owners, and helping them find paths to achieving their goals. I LOVE owning my own time. I definitely have a much healthier work-life balance, flexibility to spend time with family, and much more productive time when I can sit down and focus on my clients.

If you could tell aspiring business owners one thing before their journey - that you had wished you had known prior to starting your journey - what would that be?

I wish I had come to SOURCE RW and taken the Kauffman class so much sooner. Even if you're not ready to start your business, it is important to learn about the start-up process and do your market research early on. Also, unless you are a hyper-growth company with big investors pushing you, don't take debt or recurring expenses until you start generating revenue. That's great advice that some very good mentors shared with me, and I'm proud to have gotten it right.

Overall, how have you benefited from your time at SOURCE RW?

This experience has been amazing and it has been wonderful to have a community of people around me that have either been where I am or are walking the same path with me now.